


Something Strange Happens on September 1st

by mechanonymouse



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Supernatural - Freeform, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-24 23:19:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14964131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mechanonymouse/pseuds/mechanonymouse
Summary: A comment fic inspired by "I have so many questions about platform 9 ¾. I mean I get it that it could be inside that pillar because of an extensible spell, but the train has to come out of SOMEWHERE. I mean at some point that train has to connect with the British railway system, right?" fromHarry Potter Confessions





	Something Strange Happens on September 1st

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally posted to Tumblr as a comment fic and is reposted here with less typos.

Something strange happens every September 1st between the hours of 10am and 5:30pm between Kings Cross and Aviemore the points break. Trains grind to a halt. Stations fill with angry passengers. Harried staff repeat over and over that they are doing all they can to fix the problem.

A ghost train travels up the line, they say. There’s nothing scheduled and no operator admits to changing the points or signals but they aren’t where they should be.

Hundreds of men in orange rush out to check the East Coast Mainline and no train can pass until they declare it safe, the delays costing thousands of pounds. The Secretary for State for Transport issues a statement promising investigations and that it won't happen again next year, again. Anyone paying attention will notice that it's the same statement from last year. Nothing is ever broken, when they rest the points and signals they work with out issue. There's never a reason just switches open to the wrong line, a green signal when it should be red.

Sometimes the men come back dazed and confused. Sure they’ve seen something but not sure what. Sometimes they talk of seeing a steam train on the line and every historic railway that links to the main line is investigated but their trains are always accounted for.

It’s a mystery. A mystery that they request the money to investigate every year and every year the request goes missing.

Something strange happens on September 1st they tell new starters. If you can take leave on September 1st. No one should work two consecutive ghost train days.


End file.
